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So recently, i Re-discovered the musician / alien known as qebrus (stylised as qebrµs), who is probably best known for their ability to craft incredibly detailed, alien sounding noisescapes. Always genre hopping, the music can range from minimalist, abstract textures to juddering, psychedelic glitch madness. You’ll quickly notice the lack of conventional instrumentation and rhythm, as well as the use of symbols and obscure Unicode characters in his track and album titles (‘⋱⋮[≒/¯⊍|≙⋔≙|⊍¯\≓]⋮⋰‘ – catchy title, right?), it all comes together to create an unimaginably alien look and sound. honestly, there really isn’t anything out there like it.

I first discovered his music back in 2012 with his début album Exophobia (One of the best albums of 2032, apparently) on bedroom research and the way more alien ‘⊶⊑∷⌊∴⊹∵⌉∷⊒⊷‘ from 2013; both featuring a mixture of idm, glitch hop, breakcore and crazy experimental alien stuff, all with qebrµs’ own signature psychedelic sound. Each hit, modulated effect and glitch crack feels purposeful and meaningful; Like there is a subtle reason behind each and every single little piece of audio.

He’s also dabbled in ambient music with the ‘۩ ִ ְ ֲ ֳ ֲ ۩‘ EP, which features 5 tracks which are as soothing and beautiful (and occasionally unnerving) as they are equally complex and alien; the first track of that EP is particularly lovely, It’s quite honestly one of my favorite qebrµs tracks.

Without a doubt, qebrµs has made what is probably some of the most bizzare yet fascinating pieces of music available online. It’s definitely not for everyone, But definitely check this stuff out if you’re interested in abstract sound design and are up for something that’s really quite out there.

…So I thought to myself, Why not do a post about why I love Tearaway? yeah.

quite a few people have asked why I Love Tearaway more than LittleBigPlanet. well, honestly, I just do. There isn’t really a single reason. Maybe it’s because of it’s story, maybe it’s because it captures my imagination more, but i don’t really know. but one thing I can honestly say is this: Tearaway will always have a place in my heart.

The game made me feel a level of emotional connection I have not felt in a video game before. Out of every game I’ve played over the past few years, none of them have made me feel so attached to a character. the story, and the execution of that story, added to the overall experience wonderfully. Media molecule really went a long way into making the player feel as if they’re a part of the world. It made me feel like I could literally talk to Iota/Atoi.

It was a story I never wanted to end, but towards the last third of the game, i knew it would. I wont spoil anything, but I have to say, I had genuine tears rolling down eyes. That takes a lot to make somebody feel genuinely emotional, especially for me; I Really don’t get emotional with things. no other video game has done that to me. It probably helps that i never expected this game to have such an emotional moment. even now, after playing through the game multiple times, It still makes me tear up a little.(also, i promise that didn’t start out as a pun, but screw it)

The soundtrack to this game is amazing. The entire OST is a mixture of traditional, folk-ish / shanty type music fused with modern classical, electronica and some rather unexpected genres (Folk-Dubstep anyone?). It creates a signature sound and helps to capture the feel of the game, probably helped by the addition of paper noises in some of the tracks (Decorating comes to mind…). It’s by Brian D’Oliveira & Kenneth Young, and you should Definitely check it out. seriously, this music is golden.

Also, I can’t possibly leave without saying possibly the most important parts of the game itself: There literally is no forth-wall. I Don’t think I’ve ever played a game like this in which the player is a character themselves. Not only that, but also the amount of detail Media molecule put into this paper world is simply amazing. Add all these little pieces together and you have yourself an experience that I will possibly never forget. and that my friends, is saying something.